Baked Rhubarb and Bananas (1917) ★★

Okay, this is the last rhubarb recipe - I promise! I actually made this for Little Y. Many babies apparently enjoy the sourness of rhubarb, and it is one of the least allergenic foods, so it is appropriate for an infant. It also cooks down to a nice, mushy texture without pureeing. Even though Little Y is nearly two, I substituted coconut oil for the butter because we've had some setbacks with solids and haven't tested dairy with her yet. Also, I cut the recipe in thirds to make a smaller portion.

Original Recipe:
Ingredients
2 cups rhubarb
3 bananas
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon butter
Instructions 
Wash rhubarb and cut, unpeeled, into one-inch pieces; peel and slice bananas, and arrange in a baking dish in alternate layers with the rhubarb; add sugar and butter, cover, and bake in a slow oven two hours. Serve hot or cold.

The Verdict:

Little Y was enthralled at first, but quickly discovered that rhubarb is sour! In the end, she wasn't a fan and just picked out all the bananas. But she is often picky at first, so I'll try again. I tasted it myself and I really didn't enjoy the flavour combination, but apparently some people do, so if you like the combination of bananas and rhubarb, this would probably be delicious.
(edit: I added some sugar and mushed the bananas into the rhubarb and she gobbled it up. Guess she just wasn't a fan of the tartness of rhubarb.)

Modernized Recipe:
(Adapted from Better Meals for Less Money)

The original recipe is easy to follow. The only change I would make is to stir the sugar into the chopped rhubarb before layering. The banana is sweet enough on its own, but the rhubarb really needs to be coated in sugar.


Anje graduated with a Honours Bachelors degree in History with a minor in Museum Studies. She currently lives and works in Japan's least populous prefecture as an assistant English teacher.

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